The penalty for using your mobile phone to pay at a McDonald’s drive-thru could be a £200 fine and six points on your licence

Under a strict interpretation of the law, making contactless payments with your handset when the engine is running could amount to an offence.

Lauren Rae, a dispute resolution and claims associate at Dundee law firm Thorntons, explained: “The new legislation is not limited to using a mobile for making calls and texts – it is illegal to operate a mobile telephone, in any way, which detracts from the driver’s attention to the road.

“This includes checking social media, or playing and changing music. And it may also include using a mobile telephone to make contactless payments at a drive-through restaurant.

“Put simply, touching a mobile phone whilst the vehicle’s engine is running, could, on a strict interpretation of the law, amount to a criminal offence.”

The warning follows the introduction of new legislation in March that saw the penalties for using a mobile phone behind the wheel doubled.